


I won't let us be casualties of war

by Ellana17



Series: All is Fair in Love and War [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Casualties of War fix-it, Civil War, Earth-3490, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 19:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5755984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellana17/pseuds/Ellana17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of launching her fist into Steve’s face like she has intended to, her hand grabs the back of Steve’s head and yanks, effectively crushing their lips together.</p><p>What if Iron Woman and Captain America ended up together during the events of Casualties of War?</p>
            </blockquote>





	I won't let us be casualties of war

**Author's Note:**

> From the little bit of information we got about Earth 3490 we can’t really know when Natasha and Steve ended up together, they probably avoided the Civil War altogether when they married. But I really like the setting of Casualties of War and it could have been one of the key points for them to try and stop the fight. I was thinking about exactly how and when Natasha and Steve decided to stop being stubborn assholes and this story is the result of my reflections. I might simply set Natasha and Steve’s wedding picture as my wallpaper until the movie comes out to try and cheer me up.

_To be honest I think I really just needed to release some aggression_.

He has Natasha pinned down to the ground on the Avenger Mansion – or what remains of it. They both let their aggression get the better of them and Natasha is so really tired of it all. The idea of losing Steve for good is simply too much for her to handle. Maybe it is not worth it after all, she does not want to win the war if it means loosing Steve.

She can feel Steve glaring at her, trying to decide what his next move will be. In the split second she realizes her right hand is free, she launches her arm but instead of launching her fist into Steve’s face like she has intended to, her hand grabs the back of Steve’s head and yanks, effectively crushing their lips together. Steve kisses her back with so much force that she bumps her head on the floor and groans in pain. She bits his lips in retaliation before flipping them both over. From her vantage point, Natasha can see that Steve’s clear blue eyes are now clouded with doubt and confusion rather than anger. She lowers her face, her dark hair brushing against his cheek and bits his lower lip, hard. Steve’s hands dug into her arms and Natasha is pretty sure he is going to leave a mark but she finds she really does not care at the moment.

For a long while, the only sounds that can be heard inside the manor are heaving breathing and groans of pain mixed with pleasure. Steve has grabbed hold of her wrist and does not let go even as Natasha collapses next to him. They both stay silent as they try to catch their breaths but the truth is Natasha does not really know what to tell Steve anyway. They seem to pick a fight over anything these days.

Natasha turns on her side and puts her head on Steve’s shoulder. How come she feels so safe in his arms even though they were fighting just moments ago?

She can feel the dust around starting to stick to her hair though and maybe it is time they have a long conversation about what happened to them. But where to start? Steve seems to hold the answer, like he always does.

“I know you won’t change your mind,” he starts hesitantly. “But I’d really like you to.”

Natasha closes her eyes a second and buries her face in Steve’s neck.

“It’s not fair to you, though,” he sighs. “I’m angrier about you acting behind my back than about everything that happened, really.”

That surprisingly is not what Natasha has been expecting. “I knew you would rush head first into a fight,” she says quietly. “You have to understand, I thought I still had time to prevent the law from being adopted. I thought I could delay it until we found a solution together but when I saw how determined they were, I knew our only option was to simply go with the flow.”

“You should have told me sooner,” Steve chastises.

Natasha sighs. “To be honest, if I had to do it all over again, I would probably do the exact same thing.”

She feels Steve tense and she reaches for his hand.

“Because you don’t trust me anymore,” he states – defeated – but intertwines their fingers together nonetheless.

“What?” Natasha exclaims. She lifts her head to meet Steve’s eyes. “I trust you more than anyone else!” she says, willing him to understand. She trusts him with her life.

“Then why didn’t you _tell_ me?” he asks again.

“I was trying to protect you,” she says.

“And who’s protecting _you_?” he replies. “You put yourself out there, Toni. You became a public figure in their game of power. Can’t you see they’re using you to enforce their law because they know people will listen to you? What will happen to you or to Peter when they’re done with you? Did you think about Peter at all?”

“Of course I did!” Natasha exclaims. “Don’t you understand I’m doing it for him too, for all the younger ones that can’t control their powers?”

“Don’t you dare bring Gwen’s death into this,” Steve bites back. “Don’t use her death to justify what they’re trying to do. I know you Toni,” he says more calmly. “Tell me what’s really bothering you.”

“We _need_ some kind of control,” she says. “We’ve been above the law for far too long, we can’t go on like this.”

“We can do that on our own. We don’t need them.”

“Like we did with Hank, you mean? Like you did when I started drinking?” She sighs. “It’s too late anyway. No, Steve,” she rushes as Steve opens his mouth to reply. “Listen to me for once. Even if I joined you now, even if I thought that we need to fight our own government – which I really don’t – it wouldn’t change a thing. We can’t stop them now. All we can do is try to minimize the damage. We could even have a say in how that law is going to be enforced. And the Initiative isn’t a bad idea in theory; together we can make it work.” She puts her hand on Steve’s face to make him look at her. “I know that the idea of registering doesn’t sit well with you and I understand why – I really do – but our hands are tied. There’s nothing we can do.”

“We can fight for our freedom,” Steve states.

“At what cost?” she asks. “Do you really want to go to war with your own government? If we all end up in jail who’s going to protect the people that really need it?”

“And who’s going to protect us when they decide we need monitoring? Do you really want them to have a list of all of us so they can send Sentinels after us too?” he counters.

Natasha sighs. “You don’t know that. Look, I’m not saying it’s an ideal situation, I’m just saying that it’s our least bad option at the moment.” She feels a cold shiver running down her back and presses close to Steve. “I- I’d want you by my side for this,” she says quietly.

Steve stays quiet for so long that Natasha starts to wonder if he has even heard her.

“What are you saying exactly?” he asks at last.

“I need you,” Natasha says bluntly. “I need you by my side- We can’t afford to fight each other, we’re already too weak as it is.” She takes a deep breath before hurrying on. “I _want_ you by my side. Always. If anything happened to you, I- I don’t know what would become of me. I don’t even want to think about it. I can’t imagine a world where we’re not working side by side.”

“But on your terms. We’re always working on your terms, Natasha.”

Natasha groans in frustration. “And you’ll always be a stubborn son of a bitch that won’t stop criticizing every move I make.”

“Just trying to keep you on your toes,” he sighs, brushing her dark hair out of her face.

“I know,” she simply says. “And that’s exactly why I need you. You can tell me when I’m being too much of a jerk and I can tell you when you’re being a pain in the ass. That’s how we work.”

“Sounds exhausting,” Steve notes but he still draws her closer.

“We’ve been doing it for years,” Natasha mumbles against the skin of his neck.

“I know.”

“I’d want to keep doing it for as long as possible,” she tells him.

“Sounds like a proposal to me,” Steve says. When Natasha looks up at him, she can see a content smile on his lips. That is when Natasha realizes that she has not seen him smile in a long time.

“Well, after the amazing sex we just had, I’d be crazy to let you go,” she teases but she hopes that he can understand the true meaning behind her words.

“Natasha.” Steve sighs but now he sounds more amused than angry. “I trust you, you know that, right?” he says, trying to meet her eyes. “Truth is, I’ve seen you pull off craziest things before.”

“Will you sign the register then?” she asks hopefully.

Steve takes a deep breath and nods. “I will. I-” His hand grabs hers more tightly. “I’d like to, huh, ask you something but it won’t change anything if you say no, okay? I mean, I’ll still sign the register even if you say no.”

“Steve,” she cuts in. “What is it?”

“I’d just want the name that appears on their register to be Natasha Rogers,” he finally says.

Natasha bursts out laughing, she cannot help it. Steve has looked so serious Natasha has been convinced he was about to tell her something dreadful.

“That was probably the least romantic proposal ever,” she simply says.

“Well, you’re the least romantic person I know,” Steve replies.

“Now, that’s just not true,” she laughs.

“So what do you think?”

Natasha nuzzles his neck, getting comfortable in his arms – well, as comfortable as you can be on the cold hard floor – and squeezes Steve’s hand. She cannot make herself say the word but it does not mean that she won’t be able to after a while. Natasha has always fought for what she wants and she wants to be with Steve more than anything else. Maybe she won’t have to fight alone after all.

**THE END**


End file.
